Light Industry: Naomi Uman: The Ukrainian Time Machine

For the past four years, American underground filmmaker Naomi Uman has been living and making films in the Ukraine. At this special event, she will screen three short works and one hourlong film produced over this time period. The screening will then be followed by a conversation between Uman and Nellie Kellian, co-director of the Migrating Forms film festival.

Before turning to filmmaking, Uman was a personal chef to Gloria Vanderbilt, Malcolm Forbes, and Calvin Klein. After creating a substantial body of experimental 16mm work while living in California and Mexico, she headed out to the Ukraine, the country from which her great-grandparents emigrated all the way back in 1906.

Unfamiliar with the language and the culture, Uman settled in the remote village of Legedzine and began documenting life in the land of her ancestors, as well as her own personal attempts at understanding. Each film in The Ukranian Time Machine cycle focuses on a different specific concept.

Kalendar shows Uman’s learning of the Ukrainian language. Unnamed Film captures everyday life in Legedzine. On This Day presents snapshots of a Ukrainian wedding. Clay profiles a factory that produces bricks.